16 Questions Every Landlord Should Ask Before Hiring a Property Manager in Del Mar

Are you a landlord who is considering hiring a property manager in Del Mar? Whether it’s because you can’t commit so much time and effort or find it challenging to run day-to-day tasks, a property manager can relieve you of all burdens and help you run a successful rental business. They can help you with all aspects of managing a long-term or short-term rental property, including advertising, maintenance, cleaning, tenant relations, and other services.

How to Choose the Right Property Manager: Questions to Guide Your Decision

However, not every company will fit your requirements, and it can be challenging to establish which one offers great services that fall within your budget.

What Is Property Management?

Before you start the interview process, you should be fully aware of what property management agency is. Landlords hire a property management company to handle the everyday tasks of operating a rental unit. Depending on their experience, they can manage different property types.

Typical services include:

Benefits Of Hiring a Property Manager

In case you are asking yourself how hiring a third party benefits you and whether it is suitable for your business needs, here are just a few benefits of hiring a property management company to run your rental unit operations daily:

Top 16 Questions For Property Managers

As a landlord in Del Mar, your goal is to hire a reliable and trustworthy specialist who you can trust, so here’s the top 16 interview questions to ask candidates that will guide you towards the right decision.

1. What specific services do you provide?

Not all companies offer the same range of services. While some companies only take care of advertising, others combine marketing with upkeep and maintenance. For this reason, it is important to determine their exact scope of services and whether they fit into your plans.

Full-service management is the most preferred type of package that includes all aspects of running a rental property. For instance, it covers reservations for vacation properties, lease agreement crafting, strategic pricing techniques, tenant and guest relations, concierge services, managing guest reviews, cleaning, inspections, etc. This bundle is ideal if you don’t have enough time or energy to invest in your property.

However, if you would prefer to have more control, or if you are a hands-on person, you may not even need a full-service package. Instead, you could opt for a just tenant placement package.

2. What types of properties do you manage?

It’s essential to find a property manager who can manage properties similar to yours in order to be able to give it the attention it deserves. Managing multiple buildings differs significantly from managing single-family homes. Ask about types of properties and locations of properties in their portfolio to know whether they will be able to keep up with your demands. The goal is to determine whether your unit will be given full attention and whether the company can maintain consistency and dependability throughout the process. For instance, if you own a larger unit, you need to be certain that the company has the capacity to handle a property of that size.

Sometimes, taking care of too many residences can cause lower quality of service.

3. How much experience do you have?

Plenty of relevant experience and industry knowledge are crucial factors in the success of your business. Having lots of experience helps anticipate your needs and enables better response to unexpected situations that could occur. These firms also tend to be more stable and most likely to operate throughout the process.

The type of experience is as important as longevity. Ensure the candidate has background in running operations for your specific property type. Each real estate type requires a special set of skills and comes with its own challenges. 

Questions that will help you identify the level of experience may include:

4. How do you form rental price?

Check with prospect candidates how they form rental price. An experienced manager takes into consideration several essential factors, starting with comparable listings analysis, market trends, current supply and demand for housing, seasonality, amenities, and other relevant components. Based on the date they compiled, they should be able to establish the highest possible price that will ensure high occupancy rates and steady income influx.  

5. How do you form rental price?

When it comes to tenant background check, there is specific criteria that needs to be checked – criminal history, income verification, and references from previous landlords. To start, ask your applicants if they comply with current Federal Fair Housing Laws and whether they conduct screening in accordance with current laws.

As of July 1^st, 2024, California has passed new tenant screening laws and regulations stating that a landlord is allowed to run background check only if the applicant has given their signed consent. The consent is usually given through rental application. A good manager will diligently screen prospect renters to ensure they are the best fit for your property. They will look for reliable and quality occupants that pay rent on time and protect your property.

A credit check serves to determine how high (or how low) a credit score is and whether the renters are financially stable and able to afford the rent.

Rental references enables you to verify rental history and confirm with prior landlords that they were quality tenants.

Other questions to ask:

6. How do you choose the right tenant among applicants?

Ask your job interviewees about the technique they use to select the right renter.

There are two ways to choose a tenant:

7. What is your vacancy rate?

Property managers should keep track of vacancies in order to be able to make necessary adjustments if needed. The ideal vacancy rate is under 5%. A property generally rents within 30 days of listing, and if your applicant has a lot of units that have been longer on the market, you want to find out why. Increased vacancy rates could mean high prices or improper advertising.

Additional questions to ask:

8. How do you collect rent?

Another area to talk about is the way the rent is collected from tenants in order to determine how efficient the process is for both your occupants and yourself. You should strive to make the payment process as convenient as possible while ensuring the funds are deposited in your account in a timely manner, without delays. Rent is usually either mailed, paid online, or collected by the property manager.

Pose the following questions:.

9. What is your service fee?

Another important area to discuss is the fee. Apart from information on how much you will be charged, you should also determine their fee structure. They can either charge flat or percentage based fees.   

More specific questions to consider:

11.  Are you a member of any professional real estate organizations?

Check with candidates whether they are active members of any local or national real estate associations. For the Del Mar area, they might be members of California Department of Real Estate, North San Diego Association of Realtors, The California Apartment Association (CAA) and National Association of Residential Property Managers (NARPM). Affiliation with any of these organizations mean that the company is professionally run.

12. Can I see a copy of standard lease contract?

Review the details of a lease agreement. It will give you a chance to verify contents of the contract. A good lease is a comprehensive document that covers a multitude of different situations, such as whether pets are allowed on your property. The sole purpose of lease is to prevent misunderstandings and streamline rental business procedures between landlord and tenants.

14. How do you communicate with tenants?

Good property managers have a working system for renters calls and inquiries. They should have a 24/7 number and quick response time. Stellar relations with renters lead towards happier renters, better reviews, and increased occupancy rates.

15. Do you have termination clause in our contract?

Discover under what circumstances either party can terminate the contract. Find out whether there is a penalty and how much it is.

16. Could you provide references and sample documents?

Past results are critical indication of future company’s performance. Good references are indicative of reliable and efficient professionals. Sample documentation may include lease contracts, financial reports, rental applications, etc. Moreover, don’t forget to check previous clients’ testimonials online and look for red flags.

Narrow Your Search & Hire The Right Specialist

As you can see, there are lots of things that have to be evaluated before deciding on which professional property management company to hire. The questions above will help you find the right manager by distinguishing top-notch interviewees from those with poorer performance. But the single most important thing is to make sure the selected manager can provide the quality of services you need. Now that you know which questions to ask, detecting the ideal company to run operations of your rental property in Del Mar should be easier.

Further Read on Rental Property Management

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